The hairy business

The hairy business

Aiwendil was feeling tired, he had spent some weeks in Greenwood helping the elves there with some problems regarding their crops and now he felt that he needed a break. Not that the elves in any way were demanding, no, not at all. They treated him with the outmost respect and he could just snap his finger and at least a dozen eager elves would be there, ready to do his bidding, No, he had pushed himself way too hard and his energy was low.

The crops had been infected with some sort of fungus and finally he had managed to understand what caused it and how they were to get rid of the nasty stuff. He had ordered a massive effort to gather and boil the leaves of a special fern and to sprinkle the concoction over the young plants and it worked but by Eru how much work it created. He was sitting in the garden reserved for honored guests and he felt like taking a nap. Suddenly there was the sound of running feet and he turned his head and saw that the king's son was approaching him. The elfling was the size of a human five year old and extremely cute and sweet with the most adorable blue eyes. He got royally spoiled but unfortunately his father was busy most of the day and didn't get to spend as much time with his son as he would have wished for.

Legolas wanted to be a warrior like his dad, and he was constantly bothering the guards with all sorts of questions but nobody could get mad at that innocent face. One of the things that had bothered the little elf recently was that his ada was too busy to braid his hair, Legolas wanted warriors braids, but he wasn't allowed to have those yet and that made him sulk a lot. Now he stopped in front of Aiwendil and put up his most innocent smile up to date. "Please, could you braid my hair?"

Aiwendil sighed, he was so tired! He took the comb the little one held out and went to work, managed to get the long flaxen hair into a couple of decent braids. "There you go little one"

He knew that most of the staff had been driven to madness by the elfling's constant pleas for braids. The servants had to braid him, the kitchen workers, the ones taking care of the horses, even the elves who were overseeing the huge library had spent time trying to tame the little prince's golden locks. Aiwendil got a moment of inspiration, an idea which could make everything so much easier for everybody.

He looked at the comb and then he whispered a few words and it glowed softly for a few seconds. He handed it over to the wide eyed little elf and smiled gently. "Here you go, now, this comb has become magical and if you use it then it will braid your hair for you. Don't lose it!"

Legolas let out a peal of joy and grasped the comb, ran off with cheerful laughter and Aiwendil closed his eyes and smiled to himself. He had done a good deed and now it was time to rest a little. He deserved it!

Legolas tried the comb immediately, on one of the long haired cats which roamed the palace, the cat hissed and suddenly its long fur was pulled up along its back where it formed a perfect fishbone braid. Even the tail was neatly braided. This was wonderful! Aiwendil had no idea of what he just had unleashed upon the unsuspecting elves. Legolas skipped along the halls, used the comb on some of his father's huge wolf hounds which suddenly were almost blind cause the hair of their faces got braided tightly over their eyes. And the hair in their ears got braided too, making the ears stand out straight. Legolas laughed and ran off again, the stables were his next stop and when he was done all the horses had neatly braided manes and their tails were all braided together. A few horses had feathers too and that hair had also been braided so that the poor animals were unable to take a single step. Legolas braided the tack in the tack room, he went by the work room where the ellith would sit and do their weaving and embroidery and soon all the threads and weaves were braided into something that may be described as non-figurative modern art.

Legolas hadn't had that much fun ever, the comb was such a nice thing to have and he continued to braid stuff. Drapes, curtains, table cloths, the carpets on the floor, his father's spare robes. Bow strings, the long spindly herbs growing in the kitchen's own garden. The comb did braid everything it touched and Legolas went all over the palace, braiding stuff. But he was just a kid and before long he got tired and laid down to rest He did lay down next to one of the huge pools they used for baths and to store water and he fell asleep rather fast. But in his sleep his grip on the comb loosened and it slipped from his hand and into the waters below. The pool was deep, very deep, and the comb disappeared out of sight.